British Petroleum has reported strong profit gains for yet another quarter as high demand and low spare capacity continued to fuel high oil prices.
The UK-headquartered fossil fuels producer has increased second quarter profits by 29% to $4.98 billion, while profits for the first six months of the year were also up on the previous term by 29% at a record $10.47 billion.
The main driver of the impressive financial results continues to be high oil prices, which have increased by 46% over the last 12 months to an average of $51.63 a barrel, with a peak of over $60 a barrel.
In fact, the current market conditions would have delivered record profits for BP in the quarter had it not experienced an unfortunate accident at its refinery in Texas which killed 15 people. BP’s profit was reduced by around $700 million due to costs associated with the accident.
BP group chief executive, Lord Browne, commented: Our record first half financial results could not have been delivered without the significant investments made over the last decade. These are capturing the benefit of the strong trading environment. Discipline in returning capital to shareholders after continuing to invest for the future is allowing us to reduce the number of shares outstanding, further improving per share performance.